-India Today Following the withdrawal of a subsidy for LPG cylinders by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, the Human Resource Development Ministry will soon begin reimbursing Rs.752 crore that was spent on preparing mid-day meals in schools using unsubsidised cylinders. The Finance Ministry's Department of Expenditure had last year given "inprinciple" approval for meeting an additional expenditure of Rs.752 crore to be incurred during 2012-13 for procuring LPG cylinders after the...

-The Hindu Kochi (Kerala): The State Horticulture Mission (SHM) is planning to implement organic farming and certification in 2,000 hectares in the State. The programme is to be implemented initially in the three districts of Idukki, Wayanad and Kasaragod during 2014-15, under the guidance of the National Horticulture Mission (NHM). Under the programme, financial assistance will be provided over a period of three years for groups of farmers covering an area of...

-Economic and Political Weekly Despite economic growth, government latrine construction, and increasing recognition among policymakers that open defecation constitutes a health and human capital crisis, it remains stubbornly widespread in rural India. We present evidence from new survey data collected in Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Many survey respondents' behaviour reveals a preference for open defecation: over 40% of households with a working latrine have at least one...

-The Hindu In addition to adequate provision of funds for cleaning, sanitation training and maintenance of toilets in schools, the issue of fixing accountability must also be addressed The revival of the issue of toilets in schools has brought to the fore a discussion that has for long existed among educationists, with varying positions occupying centre stage at different times. A couple of decades ago, when the deplorable state of education began...

-The United Nations A new United Nations-backed report launched today reveals that 22 million people worldwide were displaced in 2013 by disasters sparked largely by earthquakes or climate- and weather-related events - almost three times more than by conflict in the same year. The report, Global Estimates 2014: people displaced by disasters, conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), shows that the risk of displacement due to disasters...